Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the Youth Off the Street Initiative (YOTSI) in collaboration with Afenifere, Mdzough (U-Tiv), Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the Igbo World Assembly (IWA), among others, yesterday, launched a 40 million youth-driven ballot movement to move the 2023 presidency in favour of the South East.
The groups also unveiled the Power Shift Movement (PSM) to strengthen the quest for all political parties to cede the president of the country to the South and urged the South East region to show seriousness for the contest, before other interested zones seize the opportunity.
The groups also restated the need for true federalism through restructuring, stressing that to achieve unity, it was necessary to achieve good leadership and ethnic balancing in the country.
According to them, for Nigeria to achieve peace, security and good governance, President Muhammadu Buhari should sign the Electoral Law, which would ensure credible elections in 2023 and beyond.
Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark, who was represented by the National Publicity Secretary, Kenneth Robinson, said the Niger Delta was in support of the South East producing President Buhari’s successor, but requested that the Igbo should take the lead.
“For PANDEF, we stand for power shift to the South. The Igbo deserve the presidency of the country, but it must go beyond deserving it. They must work for it by reaching out to other groups,” Clark said.
Besides, leader of Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who was represented by the Secretary General, Sola Ebiseni, supports the idea of a president of South East extraction for the sake of equity, fairness and national cohesion.
On his part, President of Igbo World Assembly (IWA), Onowu Nwachukwu Anakwenze said: “It is the turn of the South East to produce the next president of the country and we are warning that nobody should hide under insecurity to deny the region of their right.”
Speaking, Convener and President of YOTSI, Kennedy Iyere, said the 40 million ballot movement is a revolutionary platform driven by the youths to address the issue of the next president of the country, saying there was no hope in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Iyere urged President Buhari to sign the Electoral Bill into law, as a significant legacy project of his administration, warning that whether he signs it or not, the youths would drive the process of ensuring electronic transmission of results in general elections, no matter how long it would take.